Michael Carter is a smaller back at 5’7 205 but he is thickly built and has incredible elusiveness that routinely makes tacklers look silly. He has elite vision, patience, and hole hitting ability that give him the potential to be one of the better running backs in the league.

Strengths: 

  • Amazing Agility

Smaller guys in the NFL have to use their speed and elusiveness to win and Michael Carter certainly gets the job done in this department. His incredible change of direction ability frequently leaves defenders on the ground.

  • Incredibly Smooth

When Michael Carter moves he looks so incredibly smooth, his jump cuts and stutter steps look very easy, and those moves work on defenders as well.

  • Great Vision

Michael Carter sees the field a lot better than others as well. There are a couple of plays where he may leave a couple yards on the field but for every one of those plays there’s another where he gets a massive chunk gain because he sees a hole opening up. 

  • Good Patience

In the backfield Michael Carter is very patient and he has good vision as well which combines for a deadly combo. He’s not the type of player to be over aggressive and miss a hole because of this reason.

  • Hits Hole Incredibly Fast

When Carter sees a hole he uses his great acceleration and bust to get to the hole before it collapses, and he’s able to contort his small frame into tight spaces in order to squeeze through.

  • Great Body Control

Once Michael Carter gets into the open field and has a full head of steam going he has great body control. Even more a smaller guy he does decent with contact and he’s able to tight walk the sideline well.

  • Shows 3 Down Traits

The most receptions Carter has gotten in a year is just 25 but that’s more because of how he was being utilized rather than his traits. He’s got great hands, decent route running, and he’s made catches in traffic. He also showed effort in pass protection.

Weaknesses: 

  • Elite Second Gear Isn’t There

Michael Carter running downhill isn’t terrible but the second gear that he hits in the open field isn’t elite and there are plays where he is tracked down or almost tracked down from behind.

  • Bad Contact Balance Behind LOS

Once Carter gets going he’s able to use his full display of moves and sometimes even bounce off of hits but if pressured behind the LOS he doesn’t do much. He doesn’t have the strength to push forward and tackling him becomes pretty easy because of his lack of contact balance.

  • Needs Work in Pass Pro

Being just 200 lbs he may not ever be a great pass protector because he has the tendency to be pushed around by blockers. He’s not physical and his technique still needs work. 

Player Comp: Clyde Edwards-Helaire was drafted just last year but the similarities between Michael Carter and CEH are oddly similar. They both are just 5’7 and around 200 lbs. They are both shifty, elusive guys who rely on quickness rather than long speed. They also both had great vision and patience. The only real difference I see is that Helaire is certainly a better pass catcher.

Final Thoughts: Michael Carter is a running back that I like a lot and my evaluation of him is similar to where I had Clyde Edwards-Helaire last year. I have him as a guy who should be taken from early to mid round 3. Many others have him as a late round 3 guy or a day 3 pick. As a feature back expected to get a lot of carries throughout the year he won’t be very effective but any teams that are planning on pairing a bigger back with a change of pace guy, or are using a running back by committee should look after Michael Carter. He would be a good running back to pair with James Conner in Pittsburgh.